After careful consideration and discussions with the NEM community, we have decided to cap our ask at 81 750 000 XEM which equals $3.27 million at $0.04/XEM. If it is foreseeable that the requested XEM do not cover our operational expenses, we can start applying for traditional financing to sustain the operation of NEM Labs.

The past year has shown that our ecosystem may be vulnerable by relying on a single entity for success. Strong ecosystems like Bitcoin and Ethereum all consist of multiple purpose driven entities that solve specific problems, and most of them originated from the center of the ecosystem (i.e. Parity, Consensys).

We present to you the proposal and Business Plan for “NEM Labs”, an independent, global, technology-focussed entity with absolute focus on driving mass adoption of NEMtechnology through accessibility and distribution to grow the NEM developer and entire ecosystem.

Our team (NEM Europe) has gained a huge amount of knowledge and experience surrounding all aspects of NEM. Using this experience, we identified the crucial shortcomings with the approach that has resulted in low adoption. More important than knowing the problems is that we have the right solutions.

We also want to be clear, we are not here to replace NEM Foundation!

We are aware that it may be confusing to the community to see both the NEM Foundation proposal and our NEM Labs proposal at the same time. However, we have no intention to compete with NEM Foundation. If the community decides to approve both proposals we will work with NEM Foundation to prevent both entities are working on the same things. This would probably affect the actual expenses ( and thus extend our runway ) however we believe there is plenty of work to be done on the tech side.

We have a specific scope that allows us to have absolute focus on the focus. This focus will ensure our team delivers results in the cost effective and lean way our team has always operated - it is part of our DNA.

Our plan focuses on three key pillars to make adoption of this great technology happen. In order of importance these are:

Get Catapult ready for public launch.

Make Catapult easy to use and accessible.

Drive adoption through our global service partner network (NEMsp).

Out of respect to the NEM Community, we have put together a very transparent and detailed Business Plan to ensure you are able to make an informed decision with your PoI vote „click here“. Enclosed within the Business Plan is also a very detailed and transparent budget breakdown.

Its prime focus on Catapult is going to appeal to more people, however with things are they are at present this is a right messy time to pop up.

The C word is starting to look like a summit that’s forever out of reach. The foundation is talking about it, there’s a private group of about 30 I’ve read about recently, now this.

Would it not make sense to combine everyone and everything into a one time war cabinet and get it done? Once it’s actually out there then the focus can switch to exploiting its potential with numerous approaches.

I want to be very clear that we will all join forces. This is not about competition but collaboration.
Yes , NEM Foundation was aware of this and we have regular chats with them just like other stakeholders in the ecosystem. We’ll certainly do so moving forward if community supports this initiative.

You had almost 1M in funding last year. What did you do? Can you list your accomplishments?

We talk a lot about SEA mismanaging funds. Please address the elephant in the room - Mr. Kristof. You were the president. You had every power to come forward and discuss this with the community. What did you do?

One day you started complaining about SEA and accused them of not helping you with the development. I see a lack of responsibility and authoritarianism.

NEM EU is notoriously slow when it comes to development. Everyone inside NF is well aware of this issue.

It looks like anyone with some experience in NEM can put some shitty proposal and claim that they can get this done (Only they can do it, others can’t) and get away with million dollars.

6. Why can’t you become Service Provider of NF? I saw the other proposal where they are asking regions to come forward as a Service Provider. Do it if you want to develop Catapult or anything else. Why go for another funding?

Final note: I think you will get this vote. Afterall POI is with developers, and most of them are based in EU. We - the community is just a bunch of jokers that blindly follows the lead.

You had almost 1M in funding last year. What did you do? Can you list your accomplishments?

We’ve piloted the NEMsp partner program which is a world first for blockchain. We can already see the first results such as the Deutsche Bahn project by Unibright.

9 NEMsps contracted and trained including:

Unibright

Cryptodus

Netcetera

Iteratec

BTT Group

and more…

Members of our team are major contributors to nemtech repositories: See here

Verified Token Framework which is a cornerstone for STOs on NEM: After an intro from Solo Energy through their STO, NEM Ventures + NEM Europe, Tech Bureau, Techemy and the Core Devs started working to adopt the Verified Token Framework for Security Tokens on Catapult.

We’ve provided input to the core developers for new/changed Catapult public chain features such as

Fees (joint community effort)

Enhanced Harvester Capabilities

Metadata

Levy

Features required for STOs (w/ NEM Ventures & Tech Bureau)

and more…

We talk a lot about SEA mismanaging funds. Please address the elephant in the room - Mr. Kristof. You were the president. You had every power to come forward and discuss this with the community. What did you do?

Our spent rate for NEM EU is public as you mentioned above. Kristof has adressed this question on multiple occasions and just today in nemred. For main issue, see below.

One day you started complaining about SEA and accused them of not helping you with the development. I see a lack of responsibility and authoritarianism.

As interim president, Kristof was never a director of NEM Foundation. His vote counted just as much as the vote of other council members.

NEM EU is notoriously slow when it comes to development. Everyone inside NF is well aware of this issue.

Not sure if serious. Please check the list mentioned in the first post and business plan before making such disrespectful statements towards our developers. See here

It looks like anyone with some experience in NEM can put some shitty proposal and claim that they can get this done (Only they can do it, others can’t) and get away with million dollars.

Please read the proposal in full. Neither Kristof nor myself have any shares in NEM Labs. We can’t walk away with the money. In fact, no one can. The legal structure is explained here: Click here

Why can’t you become Service Provider of NF? I saw the other proposal where they are asking regions to come forward as a Service Provider. Do it if you want to develop Catapult or anything else. Why go for another funding?

The past year has shown that our ecosystem cannot, and should not, depend on a single entity. Any strong ecosystem - NEM or others - consists of many purpose driven entities that solve specific problems. NEM Labs is a very lean structure with low overhead that has a specific scope as described in our business plan. We are an entity that is only accountable to the community and serve the community. This will make the NEM ecosystem more resilient, build tech talent for the ecosystem and grow the ecosystem overall.

Also, having an independent entity means that we can adapt quicker to market demand. We have already gathered insights through our NEMsp program that influences the way we can have a positive impact on developer tool development and ecosystem growth. Doing all of this through lengthy proposal processes would slow us down significantly.

You had almost 1M in funding last year. What did you do? Can you list your accomplishments?

Please look at Appendix 1 of the proposal. It lists what contributions were made by the team. Actually most of the activities are listed in the proposal one way or another.

Lionheart:

It looks like anyone with some experience in NEM can put some shitty proposal and claim that they can get this done (Only they can do it, others can’t) and get away with million dollars.

It’s up to the community to decide. Apparently you have made your decision already but I doubt you had a close look at the business plan. It’s easy to make accusations but calling that business plan a shitty proposal is just trolling like some of the other comments. It’s a fact that due to the regional setup in NF different parts of the world alienated from one another but let’s focus on solutions in stead of the past please.

Lionheart:

get away with million dollars.

Who’s getting away with millions of dollars ?
There is a budget and there is a roadmap with tangible deliverables linked to that. If you have concerns then address them but just talking about millions of dollars and making accusations based on incomplete information isn’t helping.

Fact is that the setup that is described in the proposal does not put any of us at the top of the food chain but makes our entire team accountable to the CLG which represents the community.

Lionheart:

Why go for another funding?

The PMC allows for multiple stakeholders to contribute to the open source project. We are of the opinion that NEM is served best by multiple stakeholders that operate independently from one another in a collaborative way. It’s up to the community to decide whether that’s what they want.

Lionheart:

Afterall POI is with developers, and most of them are based in EU.

It is true that there are a lot of supernodes hosted in EU, but are you sure those are all owned by EU people ?
Even if that’s the fact, I would assume that they would rather look at what is proposed compared to where the proposal is coming from.
Other than that I want to be very clear : We may be living in Europe but we are a global initiative. Currently we have people in our team that come from China, Australia and we all have friends in the community across the globe. Let’s not focus on region or race because it has nothing to do with what we want to achieve.

Let’s focus on what matters please and that’s the proposal we made to community.

Currently all team members are living in Europe though not everyone was born and raised in Europe. I mentioned that because in the end it’s irrelevant where we live or where we come from. It’s a global initiative since we are not just trying to serve the European community and we will also consider talent irrespective of the place they live or their origin.

I believe that NEM EU has proven its competence before and we should support this initiative.
This could be a safety net in case the foundation proposal gets rejected.
Also, Foundation has still a lot on the table, so having a separate entity to focus on catapult eliminates some risk.
Good luck with the proposal!

I have to say that I’m a little surprise of this. Now I understand why not only during the elections apart of Kristof everyone in NEM Europe remind in silence but also before was hard to contact with some of you. No communication at all.
I remember the NEM SP program, all NF BD groups were involved and contributed (sadly only a few were interested in that). I would push more through the council and the regional leaders but because there was no leadership, at the end only a few remain in the project.
The SP pilot was in Europe but not exclusive for that region. The plan was to share and make the same things globally.
Can we have some information about those companies who were trained and the income for NEM? Can the New NF use the SP Program or you will have the exclusivity?
I can see only Kristof and Paul. Are Gary, Itsvan, Jenthe or Julian involved in this proposal or they want to remain in the NF?
Did Alexandra and the council aware about this project?
If the 2 proposals are funded, the actual NF representatives can opt for roles NF or Labs. Are the roles open for people who live in Europe or remotely?
I have to read the proposal carefully, at a first glance looks good but personally I don’t think the timing this was released is the best.
Good luck

I have to say that I’m a little surprise of this. Now I understand why not only during the elections apart of Kristof everyone in NEM Europe remind in silence but also before was hard to contact with some of you. No communication at all.

We are not interested in politics and sadly the elections brought out the worst in people.

We focus on focus. End of 2018 was an important deadline for Catapult public chain features input that spilled over into January 2019. That was simply more important than politics.

I remember the NEM SP program, all NF BD groups were involved and contributed (sadly only a few were interested in that). I would push more through the council and the regional leaders but because there was no leadership, at the end only a few remain in the project.

Yes, unfortunately the global working groups Kristof set up last year were hit with resistance by the old council. Although, of course you often joined our meetings. As you saw, no one else did, and it was good having you in there - thanks! But that’s the past and we can’t change it. We can only focus on the future!

The SP pilot was in Europe but not exclusive for that region. The plan was to share and make the same things globally.

Absolutely, NEMsp is here for global gains. In fact, all of our activities are. NEM Labs first and foremost serves the NEM community. The NEMsp program will roll out globally asap.

Can we have some information about those companies who were trained and the income for NEM?

The NEMsp Pilot brought in a low 5 figure sum. Our main priority was to cover costs and improve the trainings.

Can the New NF use the SP Program or you will have the exclusivity?

Everybody can benefit from the NEMsp program. I probably need to clarify this if it’s unclear from our business plan: The NEMsp program focuses on us providing paid training, certification and quality assurance. However, we are not the center of the ecosystem. Just like AWS you can approach a certified NEMsp and get products built, knowing they are competent. It would be great to see NEM Foundation use this network.

I can see only Kristof and Paul. Are Gary, Itsvan, Jenthe or Julian involved in this proposal or they want to remain in the NF?

The whole NEM EU team is part of it, including the people mentioned above.

Did Alexandra and the council aware about this project?

Yes, we informed Alexandra and the council on the 20th of December 2018.

If the 2 proposals are funded, the actual NF representatives can opt for roles NF or Labs. Are the roles open for people who live in Europe or remotely?

Remotely. We hire based on skills, not based on region. The current team is spread out over 6 countries.

I have to read the proposal carefully, at a first glance looks good but personally I don’t think the timing this was released is the best.

Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate you taking the time to read it. Please keep in mind that we’re in a cooperative stance towards NEM Foundation. NEM Labs exists to serve the NEM community with an independent, accountable, tech focused entity. This will make the ecosystem stronger and more resilient!

Hi Kristof! Sorry for offtopic but do you remember it was some nem projects in Belgium and Netherlands cities? What happened with them? or where i can find some infos about it?
It was NemLabs Projects?